Sundown
by Randoms 'R' Us
Summary: Well, I may as well title this one in some vague kind of keeping with Meyer's titles. It will be the only one (probably) to do this. Possibly the first fanfic I ever wrote; Eva realises that Twilight is (for the most part) true, but is not what she expected. Now she must learn to live in a world where everything that was her reality is challenged, and leave her happy past behind.
1. Chapter 1

Eva woke, screaming. For the past week she had been plagued by nightmares. To be more precise, one nightmare, repeated over and over again.

_She was in a beautiful forest, surrounded by young trees and dappled light. There were a few rocks, lightly covered by moss, perfect seats. The sun was warm on her skin. Then she realised that she was not alone. She didn't know how she knew, but she did, as you so often do in dreams, that an unseen danger was right behind her. She bolted, running faster than she thought was possible, so that the trees became a blur. As she ran, the forest began to change. It was no longer a light, safe place of beauty; the trees grew, blocking out the sunlight, the woodland paths turned into treacherous forest undergrowth, and the branches caught in her hair and scraped across her face, as if trying deliberately to block her way. Then her legs gave way, and she was falling, falling down a long tunnel of oblivion, knowing that her invisible enemy would be waiting at the end..._

She looked at her alarm clock and swore. She rushed to get ready for school and hurtled down the road to the bus stop. She was just in time, so she got on the bus, fell into a seat and let her mind wander. Not allowing her nightmare to revisit her, she went into one of her more controlled daydreams – Twilight; well, her own personal "fan fiction" of it, with herself as the main character. Not the same story as Bella's of course – that was ridiculous – but it did involve her becoming a vampire. Before she knew it the fantasy was out of control, and in her mind she was mentally screaming out to Edward to hear her and change her. As soon as she realised what was going on, she pulled herself out of her fantasy, mentally swearing and somewhat embarrassed. It was so long since she had allowed herself to daydream that she had forgotten her reason for preventing herself from doing it. It became too real; and the pain of readjusting to reality was hard to cope with when there was no way to let it out; she couldn't even tell anyone – not without being sent to a psychiatrist. It was stupid really; little kids did this, not 16-year olds. Sighing, she got out her iPod and tried to distract herself. By the time she got to school, however, the pain was beginning to set in, as she had known it would. It wasn't a sharp pain – more like a dull ache, but it was enough to send her mind veering off course for three days or more. Of course it would have to be mock week when she did this – how the hell was she meant to focus on her exams? 'Stupid', she cursed herself silently 'Stupid, stupid, stupid'. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she nearly missed her bus stop. For God's sake, how bad could a day be? And it wasn't even nine in the morning yet!

She crossed the road and headed to school, slowly so that she wouldn't be too early – the bus had somehow got here earlier than usual – it must have been on time, she thought dismissively. Just then, someone caught her arm.

"Hey – Eva – are you okay? You didn't seem to hear me calling you," He spoke as if he knew her, but when she looked up she didn't recognise the tall boy standing beside her.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked rudely, to cover up her fear. She tried to pull away, but the boy wouldn't let go of her – bloody hell, he was strong.

"Look closer, Eva," he said gently, and spun her around to face him. Then she realised. His face was perfect. His skin was pale white. His eyes were a beautiful gold.

"No way," she said, "Now I'm hallucinating, great. My day just gets better and better," She tried to pull away again, but again he persisted.

"I'm as real as you are," he said, and gently placed her resisting hand over his heart. Or over where his heart should be. But Eva couldn't feel a heartbeat.

"Yeah, clever trick, now please just leave me alone," she checked her watch, "I need to be at school in five minutes,"

"Eva, look, I'm so, so, sorry..."

"To have bothered me? Good, now you can let me go,"

Just then, another stranger appeared, materialising directly in front of her. The two of them proceeded to appear to be conversing too fast and too quietly for Eva to hear. Just like...but she forced her mind away from that – it would only hurt more the longer she held herself from reality. The pair appeared to come to an agreement, there was a sharp pain in her head, and everything went black.

When she came to, she was in a car, surrounded by strangers. The pair she had met earlier were in the front of the car, and there was a boy who looked older than the first on one side of her and a tiny girl on the other.

"She's awake, Edward," the girl informed the boy in front. Eva began to feel worried. Then it hit her – she must be in her daydream. And if that was the case...she tried to dig her nails into her skin, hoping that the pain would prove this to be a dream – or nightmare – but then her hands were secured in the firm, cool grip of the boy sitting next to her. She struggled but couldn't move her hands.

"Keep hold of her, Emmett," said the small girl, "She'll only try again otherwise, I don't think she realises yet..."

"She doesn't", said Edward, "She thought that she could prove to herself that it was a dream by trying to cause herself pain,"

"Alice," asked a voice from behind her, slightly anxiously, "_will_ she draw blood?"

"No – she can't – but she'll try..."

"...so that she can see for herself whether we are vampires," finished Edward. Then, as if a signal had been given, Eva felt her eyelids drooping. _Great,_ she thought, _just great,_ and then everything went dark again.

When she next woke, she was lying on a couch, in a house like the one in _Twilight_. Crap, now she had thought it, and off her imagination went. Suddenly Edward was in the doorway.

"You're pretty close to the truth, actually," he said, thoughtfully, "You could have an interesting talent, you know..."

"You wouldn't dare..." Eva snarled, frightened of what these strange people – she refused to call them anything else - had planned for her. She couldn't help it now, he had confirmed her ridiculous suspicions, and now she believed him, whether she liked it or not.

"I'm so, so sorry, Eva," he said, apparently as upset as she was, "I know you've guessed what we are. You're going to have to chose – change, or death." Eva was silent for a long moment. Then,

"Why?" she demanded.

"Well, it's partly my fault, that's why we're helping – we...Ididn't want to feel responsible for your death. I was heading out to hunt one night, when I heard your thoughts, screaming at me – there was no doubt that on some level, conscious or subconscious, you believed what you had read. _Twilight_ was written to make us seem less real, not more – most humans will disbelieve anything as soon as it appears in a fiction book – but it had caused the wrong reaction in you. I thought nothing of it; I was quite happy to live and let live, as it were – you probably weren't going to actually do what you said in your thoughts"

"So why didn't you just let me be?"

"I was getting to that bit. The Volturi became worried that we were plotting against them – another vampire had seen and misunderstood something – thought that we were making an allegiance with werewolves to overthrow them – and so they paid us an unexpected visit. Aro read my mind and heard your thoughts through me. He was all set to kill you immediately, but I persuaded him that we would..._deal _with you, as it was my fault that you had been discovered. It would have helped if you hadn't been thinking about hunting our kind down until your death..." His voice trailed away just looking at Eva's face, "_Anyway, _he agreed, and gave us a month. If you're not one of us by then, you die."

Eva stared at him, not sure what to say. Then the one she assumed was Carlisle entered. He looked at Edward, who nodded slightly, then looked at Eva sympathetically.

"So," Eva whispered hoarsely, "_How much of the book is true?" _

"Not much," Edward assured her, "Bella never existed, nor did Renesmee, and barely anything from the books happened at all. The shape-shifting mutts exist though,"

Eva moaned, and put her head in her hands. _Why me?_ she thought.

"Eva," said one of the vampires (Eva shuddered involuntarily at the word as she thought it) softly, "We need a decision now – our deadline is near; it took time finding you,"

"I chose life," said Eva, too afraid of death to chose the other option, "Don't ask if I'm sure, please, just do what you have to," Perhaps sensing how hard it would be for her to think too hard about this decision, Carlisle just nodded.

"This will hurt," he warned, "and there's no way to prevent that. I'm so, so sorry. We all are." Eva trembled, and bit back tears of fear and horror at what was about to happen, as the vampire stepped towards her. Suddenly, her wrist was on fire, and the fire was spreading. Soon, her whole body was burning. She scorned her former self for thinking reality painful – this was true pain. She tried to lose herself in her imagination, but couldn't focus on anything but the agony. The she heard something screaming in pain, the inhuman sound hurt her ears, and her body was thrashing around out of control – was she having a fit? Then she realised – the screaming was her own, and she was thrashing about because of the pain. She focused hard, and managed to clamp her jaw shut. Good. The screaming had stopped. Then she focused on her body, imagining that it was pinioned down, chained at the wrists, ankles, waist, neck and head, so that she shouldn't be able to move. Then she was lying still. As Carlisle had predicted, though, nothing could be done about the agony. She focused on it, trying to pinpoint it and then she could feel where it was, could feel her veins as clearly as she could feel her hands. Could feel how close it was to her heart. Not even near, she thought, resignedly, as she allowed the pain to set in, more and more of her body catching fire. She wanted to die. _Not so afraid of death now then? _She asked herself. Then, from somewhere, she found the strength to say just five words through her gritted teeth:

"Talk to me. Distract me."

Immediately, there was a response.

"Eva? Can you talk more?" It was Edward's voice. _No, _she thought, _Can you hear this?_

"Yes," he assured her, "Does it help to talk?" _Not so much to talk, but to listen._

"What shall I talk about?" _Anything._

"Alice intends on being your friend, whether you like it or not," he sounded amused, "and Emmett and Jaspar are taking bets on ..." _On how many people I kill, right? Great. _"Ignore them – they'll get over it – they bet on everything. Rosalie's...unsure – she doesn't like what we're doing, but she's always like that – she is Rosalie after all, and as for Esme and Carlisle...well...I think they're just sorry for you," _Hah – Funny _"No, really." _And what about you, what do you think? _"Me – well – I guess I'm just sorry – this is partly my fault. But I'll help you – look after you. I won't let you...make mistakes..." In my head, I laughed again. _The vampire is lost for words – the "perfect Cullen" _(she quoted _Twilight_ deliberately, scornfully). "Nobody's perfect," he retorted, not liking this, and they were silent for a while. Eva allowed the pain to wash over her, blocking out everything else, giving in and allowing herself to wish again for death. After what seemed like years, the pain began to fade. She heard voices around her, and wished she could hear minds too, like Edward. Then she could. Her eyes shot open and with a startled growl, she was positioned on the other side of the room with her back against the wall. She tried to turn off this startling new power, but found that she couldn't. _So much for being careful what you wish for, _she thought irritably.

"Ah," she heard Edward's voice, "I think we just discovered her power"

"Too right you did," she exclaimed in shock. The others looked at her in surprise.

"I'm sorry, did we miss something?" Esme inquired, curiously.

"No..." "Actually, you did," Edward cut her off, "She heard my thoughts"

"I thought all powers were unique," mused Carlisle

"Mindreading isn't her power – just part of it," explained Edward, "I think she can copy other people's powers – she just wished for mine..."

"Brilliant," breathed Emmett, "Let's take her to the Volturi, and then tell them _after _it's too late..."

"They're coming to us anyway," Carlisle reminded him, "and the first thing Aro will do is read her mind,"

"Too bad Bella _doesn't_ exist – we could have used a shield," grumbled Edward.

"Grow up, you two," Alice interjected, giving hard looks in the direction of Edward and Emmett, "The Volturi will try to persuade her to join them anyway, Aro will find her fascinating, without you wanting to use her as a weapon as well,"

"You're right, but do you mind not using your power on me – it's catching," Eva groaned. Alice yelped in horror.

"Carlisle, she copied me..." Then she stopped and calmed down, and immediately Eva could feel everyone else's feelings.

"Jaspar," she growled, "did you just use your power on me? AFTER I SAID IT WAS CATCHING!?" Jasper looked slightly embarrassed. Eva launched herself at him.

"Haven't you realised by now that if you use your power on me that I get it too and I can't get rid of it?" she shrieked furiously, going for his throat. Then she was being dragged back by six strong pairs of hands. _Calm down - oh shit - shouldn't have done this – poor kid – my fault – JASPAR – what did I do?_

"Shut up!" she yelled, then suddenly everyone had left the room except for Edward, who hovered nervously near the door.

"Hear me out," he said in a pleading voice. Eva nodded once.

"I know it's hard," he began, "but you'll get used to it, learn to tune it out. For now, you need to hunt."

Eva nodded, resignedly. The burn in her throat _was_ painful. She followed Edward outside, where they met up with Carlisle and Emmett. She heard from their thoughts that they were headed for a nearby wood, and immediately they set off. As they hunted, Edward instructed her through his mind, and soon enough they found a herd of deer. They would hunt further afield for better prey after the Volturi had come – they didn't want to be separate from the other Cullens for that meeting. Then on the way back, Eva saw the forest more clearly. It was the forest of her nightmare. She panicked, and stopped moving. _Are you alright? _She showed Edward her nightmare, and the fear that came with it. _Just get out of here – go back to the house – we'll catch up._ She began to run, and didn't stop until she returned to the house where, it appeared, she was going to have to stay. Alice was waiting to greet her.

"They're nearly here," she said, "The Volturi,"

The others arrived soon after Eva, they had already heard the news via Edward. But their guests arrived sooner than Alice had thought. Almost as soon as it was dark, they heard a knock at their door. Eva heard a mixture of new voices – definitely thoughts – not the sort of thing that would be said aloud – and snarled. Carlisle answered the door, and several vampires entered the room. Eva instantly took up a defensive crouch, and snarled again at the newcomers.

"I see you kept your word," murmured one , half-amused, "Is she of any interest?" _Does she have a power? Would she be useful? _Eva growled.

"You can see for yourself, Aro," answered Carlisle, "Eva?" _Take his hand, he won't hurt you._ Eva stood up and cautiously extended her hand. As Aro took it she let out a shocked yell and snatched it away. She could hear his thoughts hearing her thoughts at the same time as she could hear his thoughts – and not just his current ones. He clearly hadn't noticed the reason for her reaction.

"Perhaps she needs some persuasion to comply," he murmured, "Jane, dear?" Jane flashed a grin at Aro and focused her gaze on Eva. Eva immediately responded, before Jane could even use her power it was being used against her. Aro looked on in amusement. _Oops _thought Eva _I'm in trouble..._

"Fascinating," said Aro, "I wonder...Alec?" His attack had the same effect – it appeared to rebound. Eva glared at Aro;

"Do you mind not messing with me anymore? I would quite like to be normal – as normal as I can be..."

"So, you reflect powers?" he asked.

"Not exactly," she replied, "It's more like copying," _Dammit, I should not have said that._ Aro looked worried. _Does that mean...? _

"So, you have multiple powers as it were?"

"So you could say," replied Eva, suddenly unnerved by Aro's wolfish look. _Don't tell him too much ._That was Edward._ Thank you, Captain Obvious...Bit late now, isn't it? _She replied, somewhat irritably.

"So, is our work satisfactory?" _Please leave now. _asked Carlisle.

"We will leave," declared Aro, "The Cullens have kept their promise. Unless, my dear, you would care to join us?" _So much power, such a waste..._

"No." Eva said firmly, "I don't think so,"

"Very well," _She'll come round eventually. _And the group left. Eva waited until they were out of earshot before speaking.

"They won't come back will they?"

"Not soon," Alice said _but someday, _she added to herself, "Let's forget them for now. Come on, Eva, Let's go shopping!"

"Okay...what for?"

"Oh, fun, clothes, cars, anything!"

When Eva got back, she had acquired more outfits than she thought was possible, all of which Alice had insisted she "needed", and several which she knew that she didn't need. And her throat was burning - her thirst was strong, but her still-human fear of being a murderer was stronger. Besides, she was getting a vague feeling that it wasn't just powers she could pick up, but skills as well. If she couldn't still remember the pain of her transformation, she would believe this to be a dream. Immediately, Edward took over her education, showing her a mountain range where they could hunt larger prey. She copied Edward and went for mountain lions, finding herself to be stronger and faster than she had ever dreamed of - and it was only after she had drunk her fill of blood that she realised something. _Where are we? _Edward was slow to respond. _Not entirely sure – somewhere in America – not Forks – other than that – well, it's remote, right?_ _Yeah, remote. _Eva thought. _Lonely. _Edward spoke out loud now,

"Let's go home – race you!" Eva forgot all her worries as she propelled herself forward as fast as she could move, but Edward still beat her to the house, which she couldn't yet think of as home.

"So, I guess I'm a Cullen now, right?" She asked, not entirely sure of her emotions.

"Yep," Edward said light-heartedly, "You're one of us," This statement did not give Eva the security it was meant to.

"So..." she started, hesitantly, "I guess...that means..." her throat constricted. _Yes, I'm so sorry_ replied Edward, understanding now.

A sudden agony ripped through Eva's heart, worse even than the agony of becoming a vampire. She curled up into a tight ball on the floor, as it dawned on her that she would never see her family, or her friends, again. In her head she saw, as if from an old photo album of faded images, the faces of her loved ones. Her little brother, Josh, only six years old, with his bright blue eyes and adorable curly hair. Her mother, always busy, usually in the kitchen, with her dark brown bob and green eyes. Her raven-haired father, always joking, always kind. They had all been there for her, but now she could never return the favour. She curled up tighter, as she discovered how it felt to cry in this new body. She heard concerned voices around her, but couldn't discern the words, as she drowned in a red sea of loss. Her next emotion was fury. She was on her feet, screaming at Edward, at all of them.

"See what you've done to me? Do you see? My memories may not be that strong, but they're there. And I know how my family are gonna be feeling right now, now that I've disappeared. They loved me, you know, like I loved them. And now you've taken it all from me...from them...if I thought that my heart could break I'd say it has...but no, you've taken that too...I can't even die...I hate all of you with all my heart and I wish I'd asked you to kill me...I HATE YOU!" she stopped and just stood there, shaking, lost for words. Or just lost.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," said Carlisle, gently, "we can find another coven for you to join, if you want to leave us. But if you want to die, I'm afraid we can't help you..." _I would be happy to help..._Eva wasn't sure who'd spoken, so she glared at each of them in turn.

The agony was still there, cruelly beating her down. She felt Jaspar trying to help, and failing.

"It's too strong," she told him, "It won't work," _Deal with it. _Definitely Rosalie. Suddenly remembering that she could use Jaspar's power, Eva unleashed the full strength of her agony on Rosalie. Rosalie screamed, and suddenly Emmet was towering over Eva, furious.

"What have you done to her?" he roared

"She has to understand," replied Eva, "She has to understand why I can't 'just deal with it'."


	2. Chapter 2

Eva curled up on the ground in despair. It was all she could do not too start screaming again. A month had passed since that fateful day, but Eva was still finding it hard to adapt. She would begin to accept it, to stop fighting it, but then the memories would return, memories of her human life, assaulting her mind, burning her just as they had four weeks ago, worse if anything. When they had turned the television on, only once, a few days after her transformation, she had seen her family begging her to come home. She had run from the room, and they had found her hours later, curled up in a secluded spot in the forest, staring into space. That was when Carlisle had announced that they were moving on. They couldn't risk Eva being seen, and she heard in their thoughts that they believed it best that she was away from all this, that it might help. She hadn't resisted, hadn't really cared. So they had packed up and moved on, she hadn't listened enough to know where. Most of her days were spent silently staring into space, hunting when the others did, and then returning to her private pain. On occasion, she would come out of her shell for a few days, when she managed to force her mind to respond to Jaspar's power, but then the misery would take over again, pushing her down, reminding her of all the things she had been going to do with her life, all the friends she had lost, her heartbroken family. When she listened to the noise around her, she heard that they didn't know what to do, and they were beginning to wonder how long it would last. She didn't know. It couldn't last forever, could it? This hell, this agony of misery pounding her down, again and again. Something had to be done, she thought in one of her clearer moments. But what?

Edward interrupted her train of thought. He had come up behind her, and now he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Eva," he said, softly, "You have to let it go,"

"I can't," she whispered, "You know I can't. I've been trying,"

"I know," he told her, "We all do. But there must be some way. We've tried everything we can, but we can't help you,"

"You have a plan," Eva said, simply. It wasn't a question.

"Yes," said Edward _but you won't like it much,_ "We're taking you to the Volturi," _What can they do? _Eva thought, harshly.

"We don't know, but they're our last hope. We can't let you stay like this,"

"Fine," replied Eva, _like I care, _"When do we leave?"

"Right away, if you're willing".

The Cullens had timed it so that they and Eva arrived in Volterra as darkness fell, and they were able to move inconspicuously through the city, meeting few humans much to Eva's relief. As they entered the Volturi's "hideout" as Eva thought of it, Eva swore quietly. _They're not gonna like this_ she told Edward _Why? _he asked _Not sure, but it' gonna be pretty damn bad. _They entered a large room to find Aro, standing by the window, alone.

"Visiting already, Carlisle?" he asked, "You have a problem." This was not a question.

"Why would we?" asked Carlisle.

"Carlisle, Carlisle, Carlisle. When have your family ever visited us without a good reason? Tell me what your problem is,"

"Well," Carlisle began hesitantly, "It's Eva..."

"I guessed as much," said Aro, turning to face them, "Why doesn't Eva tell me?" Eva stared at him, blankly.

"Um... That's part of the problem..." Immediately Aro was in front of Eva. He looked into her eyes and she felt him disapprove of their golden colour. "May I?" he asked. Eva held out her hand, and Aro took it in both of his. Something was wrong. Eva could hear his mind, but he could hear barely anything from her. His disapproval turned to fury.

"What have you done to her, Carlisle?" he snarled.

"Aro, be reasonable. I've done nothing..."

"Nothing? You call this nothing? Her mind's practically blank apart from the memories and the pain. It's hurting her to think, she still hasn't accepted what has happened and she's been alone all this time! You and your family barely talked to her, you gave up on her. What were you thinking?" He turned back to Eva, saw her eyes once more, "And you can't work out what's wrong," he sneered, "Look at her eyes. You haven't _let _her be a true vampire, haven't given her a chance to accept what she is. We agreed that you would not use her for your _stupid _experiments, that you would let her have the choice..."

"She had the choice," Carlisle replied softly, "She could have left at any time..."

"She's a child," growled Aro, "Giving her the choice means showing her, or taking her to others who will. Would you go off into a strange world if you were her? No, you wouldn't. Well maybe neither would she,"

"Stop," everyone looked at Eva. Had she just spoken? "Please," she murmured.

"Of course, my dear," Aro said, calming down, "I would be most interested to hear your take on the matter,"

"It's hard to explain," Eva said, softly.

"Just try,"

"It hurts to remember, but I think it would hurt more to forget. Every day I think about everything I have lost, I can't help it, but they've taken my dreams, my family, my friends...everything. And I can't cope. They don't understand, but for them, their lives were saved; mine was taken,"

"I see,"

"This is all very well," interrupted Carlisle, "but what do we actually do about it?"

"I would suggest that Eva remains here for a while, to learn more about our world in a more..._normal_...way. That is, if she would like," Eva nodded. She thought she would be better off here, and the older vampire seemed to understand. And she wanted to get away from the Cullens.

"And I would like to know just exactly why she did not _actually_ believe in vampires until you appeared and kidnapped her," added Aro, staring hard at Edward. Edward shifted uncomfortably, moving his eyes away. "Well?"

Eva started. Why the hell had they thought...oh crap. That. She remembered now, the night a daydream had got more realistic than she'd ever had before. Enough to be mistaken for a memory...Edward turned to look at her in horror. _Uh oh...that makes it very definitely my fault..._ Eva, on hearing this, attacked. It felt quite good to let her feelings out, she reflected, as her wild side took over. Maybe it was a good idea to just let herself go and be a normal newborn. Then she was being pulled back. She growled in frustration. Why did this always happen when she attacked someone? She let them pull her back though, and proceeded to vent all the agony she had had on Edward. She heard a sigh behind her. _She's not planning on giving up then..._

"Um...Eva?" said Carlisle, "I don't suppose you would leave Edward be now..." his voice trailed away when Eva glared at him viciously – she didn't need to speak, the threat was in her gaze. At this point, Jane entered. Eva, still focusing her pain on Edward, turned around. _Nice job_ Jane thought approvingly.

"Thanks," Eva replied. Jane looked at her, puzzled, and then remembered their brief last meeting _Oh. Her. _She grinned mercilessly. _Can I help? _Eva gave a slight nod, and suddenly Edward was doubly in pain.

"Alright, enough," Aro said firmly. Both girls stopped their torturing. Aro turned to Jane and said, mildly, "You know, you really shouldn't encourage her to do that to people who annoy her,"

"She seemed fairly controlled last time I saw her," replied Jane lazily, "I figured he probably deserved it."

"Not entirely, but that's not really your business," Aro told her sternly, "Leave us for a while, I'll call when I need you." With one last glance at Edward (resulting in a strangled yelp), Jane left. "However," said Aro, "The Volturi are not particularly forgiving of dangerous mistakes," Eva could feel the room fill with fear. _Wimps_ she thought at them, and directed another sneaky twist of pain at Edward, who glared at her, and returned the blow with pictures of her family. Eva gasped, and the agony twisted through her, pushing her down, and she curled into a ball. Some part of her still able to make decisions flooded the room with her agony, so that everyone could feel it.

Suddenly, someone was beside her, and everything went numb, dark and silent. She let the darkness pull her in, keeping her safe from her agony. Then slowly, her senses began to return, and she found herself looking into the blood red eyes of the dark-haired boy in front of her, who, if that much of the stories was true, could only be Alec. _You're right_ Edward told her. _Don't talk to me_ she growled mentally. She smiled at Alec cautiously, and he smiled back, took her hand and helped her up.

"Jane told me about you," he murmured to her, "apparently you copy talents," Eva nodded, still slightly shaken. Aro spoke up suddenly.

"Carlisle, take your family and go. Eva will stay here with us for as long as she wishes," he turned to Edward, "As for you, if anything like this happens again, I will seriously consider destroying you, mindreader or not." The Cullens left, hurriedly, and Eva could hear that they were glad they had escaped with their lives.


	3. Chapter 3

"Alec, leave us now," ordered Aro, "I need to talk to Eva – alone," _Best that we sort this out before explaining to the others._

"No," Eva cut in, "I need him here, in case..."

"Eva, Eva, Eva," Aro interrupted her, his voice sounding gentle, but taking on a slightly unfriendly tone, "You really must learn to respect your elders, especially those in authority," _Have the Cullens got to her already? _Eva glared at him as Alec left.

"Now..." began Aro, but trailed off, noticing Eva's malevolent gaze. He started again,

"Rule number one, behave or you go back to the Cullens. Misbehave severely and..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I misbehave, I die, no second chances," said Eva.

"Your moods do seem rather changeable, don't they now," Aro stated. _Was I wrong to allow her to stay?_

"I can't help it," Eva told him coolly, "When you can feel the emotions of everyone around you, it's a little hard to keep track of your own,"

"I can imagine. The question is, now that you are here," Aro paused, head bent in thought, "What do we do with you?" _Really wish I'd thought ahead._

"You gave a good impression of having it all planned out," Eva told him, "I wondered why your ideas didn't seem to move ahead by more than five minutes at a time,"

"You are being very blunt," _This could get annoying..._

"Stop making statements like that," complained Eva, "It's doing my head in! Also, the little asides...you might as well just say what you're thinking,"

"True, true," _Damn. Maybe this was a mistake. A really, really..._

"You're doing it again!" Eva grasped Aro's hand. He didn't have her advantages, and didn't see it coming. The avalanche of thoughts between him and Eva was...well, he could call it phenomenal but...he didn't like it. His mind was private, as far as it could be around mindreaders – and even then, just the one. Then Eva broke away. Aro looked at her face. She looked...scared? Or confused? What was wrong now?

"You...you're..._like me_," she gasped.

"What?" Aro asked sharply _what does she mean by that? What has she found out? What does she know?_ Questions bombarded him thick and fast, he didn't understand, he didn't like this helplessness of not knowing...Eva was growling softly, clutching her head.

"_Shut up,_" she snarled, "I can't focus with your thoughts shouting at me like that," Aro was stunned into silence. The girl was mad! You couldn't just walk into Volterra and tell the leader of the Volturi to _shut up_ because his thoughts were too loud! It just didn't happen.

Eva, noticing his thoughts, decided that some form of respect might be a better stance.


End file.
